Non-price competition in college admissions

Thesis

This study theoretically analyses college admission mechanisms where students’ applications have uncertain outcomes and the number of applications they can make are limited. I construct a model where two colleges engage in costly investment to compete for better students, and students apply to colleges facing admission uncertainty. I examine the equilibrium of this game when students are limited to a single application, and when they are not. I show, echoing previous research, that in some eq...

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Authors: Akkar, DCE

• Type of award: MPhil
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: decentralized two-sided matching; prematch investments; frictional matching; college admissions
• Subjects: Competition; Economics; Industrial organization (Economic theory); Microeconomics